Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of National League for Democracy, won a fair and decisive election in 1990. The repressive military leaders refused to hand over the leadership to her. The problem remains until today, and the U.N. is unable to help solve it.








By Monday September 24, 2007, the number of protesters reached 100000. The general public rallied three times in the past and each time the soldiers fired with life ammunition killing many of the protesters on the spot. The three uprisings in the past happened in: 1988, 1990 and 1996. In 1988 alone, about three thousand protesters were gunned down by the military government. The whole world watched silently. Where are the human right watchers? The fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters of those gun down in the past must be sharpening their choppers now?








On Wednesday Sept. 26, 2007, many protesters were arrested and four of them were killed on the spot. The soldiers were able to get away with their crimes and there is no way they are going to stop shooting at the protesters.








It is very common in many parts of the world, for governments to allow women to stand for elections and then refuse to handover the power to her after she has won the election. The laws of the jungles still exist. Don't they?






The soldiers ruled Myanmar for forty-five years by force. How many more years are they going to remain there? Honestly, I cannot find a country which is ruled by soldiers and is still progressing well. Can someone please enlighten me on this topic?
Myanmar was, before the military rule, the most prosperous country in South-east Asia. Today, it is one of the poorest 20 countries on this planet. Where has all the money gone to?






Ms Suu Kyi is a Christian. The Buddhist monks are willing to risk their life to back her up. The most urgent problem now is bread-and-butter. These monks are trying to help the public, not themselves. I hope people from outside Myanmar can understand this point. Since no civilians dare to start up any protest because those who did in the past three incidents were killed by soldiers, the monks had to do it this time. To the monks, as long as they do not harbor greed, hatred and delusion, life or death makes no difference.








President George W Bush was right. The world must be tougher with the Military Regime now. Uncle Bush has to stick out his neck again. Poor Bush. But economic sanctions won’t be effective unless China, India and Thailand are willing to participate sincerely.






Many of the generals are obsessed with protecting their legacy and families. Heads will roll unless these despots are given a chance to bow out politely and have a safe place to hide. Can Mr. Bush provide a sanctuary?


The Pentagon did it for Ferdinand Marcos before, by air lifting Marcos out of the country to a sanctuary in Hawaii, to avoid a mass slaughter in the Philippines. Marcos at that time had about USD 100 billion ill-gotten money with him. Why does the Pentagon remain silent now?

Industrial Safety


Preface

The shocked incident happened on March 23, 2005, at BP Texas City Refinery’s octane-boosting isomerization (ISOM) unit. The blow-down unit was vented directly to the atmosphere. A nearby idling pick up truck, caused the explosion and fires through the unit and the surrounding areas, killing 15 people, destroying 13 trailers, and damaging 27 others, some were parked 479 feet away. Safety standard of BP had always been very high on my list until 2005. The first question I asked was: Why was the pick up truck not fitted with a spark arrester? The next question was : why were the trailers allowed to parked at an area where combustible gas could present?
If this sort of accident can happen to BP, just how safe are all the other engineering concerns?


Less than 50% of the industrial accidents in most countries are ever documented or reported in the local media. If an accident happens, the victim is normally the one to be blamed and for the temporary workers, the employers simply terminate their service. Often, it is only when the nature of the accident which can not be covered up, that the accident is covered by the media.


One resident engineer openly said that he did not want to see accident reports documented because he wanted to show the number of accidents in his yard as zero for the whole year. Quick surprisingly, he was able to cover up all the accidents. No wonder there were cases where the corpses of illegal foreign workers were reported.
The safety officer must report directly to a government body and not to the resident engineer (RE), because the RE can bias against the Safety officer since the RE may enjoy substantial benefits from the contractor like getting free lifts every day from house to office and vice versa. Other benefits are normally the payment of the house rents, the laundry bills and the bills from restaurant. At the moment, in many Asian countries most safety officers only appear on paper. They are actually people who are doing something else for the employers.


Majority of our Asian contractors still think of industrial safety as a burden and a waste of time and money. They must be educated to understand that industrial safety will actually increase their productivity and lower the production cost.
As the average education level of the workers grows higher, a day will come when many of these workers are able to sue the employers for damages like noise-induced hearing loss, loss of eye-sight etc. The subsequent compensation claims could be very high.



Non-compliance must be treated severely and the responsible parties heavily fined in terms of money or sent to jail for an appropriate duration. Otherwise, the Government can not protect its citizens from unscrupulous employers.

Stop work orders must be issued for any non-compliance audited. The construction yards or factories must be audited by the Government personnel at least once every two weeks. Containers which are meant for transporting cargoes must not be used as living quarters for the workers. Can you imagine how dangerous it could be for a 20-footer-container, 10 feet wide, and 8 feet high to be used as a quarter for 12 persons? During an emergency, how do the workers escape, since there is only one door? I saw only one electric fan and there were seven persons with lighted cigarettes in that container.


All engineering courses in local universities must include industrial safety as a compulsory subject and all undergraduates must undergo three-month industrial training on Safety with local companies before they are allowed to graduate.

For the non-graduate, a ten year industrial experience and a Secondary School Education must be the minimum qualifications a candidate should have before he / she is allowed to take an industrial safety course and to receive an industrial safety certificate. The industrial safety course must run for one year with every Saturday as a compulsory attendance for the candidate. The pass marks for all the papers must be 80% or higher.


The local construction industry must liaise more closely with the Government and the Government personnel must go more often to the yards to carry out more thorough checks. For example the local contractors use crawler cranes without safety certificates. But when the Government personnel went to the site office, the safety personnel were shown a bunch of certificates from somewhere else. If this sort of practice is allowed, then one certificate of fitness can be used for millions of equipment.


Safety cannot be learned in the classroom. Just like the best training for soccer is to go into the field and practise. Safety is best learned in the field. Of course the safety officer must be around to train the workers. It is his/her duty to assist the workers to identify the hazards, to take precautions, to prevent and to carry out the protection from those hazards.


The best trained workers are the ones having a good knowledge of the jobs, with good skills and experience. They are most valuable to the company because without them, the company will not survive.

Each new recruit must be informed of the company safety policies and he/she must be shown around the new surroundings. The places where written entry permits are required must be briefed and those places clearly indicated.
Minimum safety gears


The minimum safety gears each worker has to put on every day are: safety hats, safety glasses, long sleeve shirt, trousers, and safety boots. For those working in noisy areas, the earmuffs or plugs must also be worn. For the workers working in dusty areas, the respirators (air filters) must be worn. These items are all provided free of charge. Any worker caught not complying would be given a first verbal warning. If he were caught again, he would be given a warning letter and told to leave the yard or worksite until he was able to come back with the appropriate safety gears. The same person if caught with the safety violation within the next 12 months, his service would be immediately terminated, and he would not be able to work in that company forever.


Certificate of fitness

I discovered some contractors who used crawler cranes were using a bunch of certificates which were not belonging to the cranes on site. Complaints to the authorities fell on deaf ears in some countries.

Silt trap

Design of a wash trough must be approved by a government body and it must be functioning every hour of the day. It is no use having a wash trough, when it is never used and whenever the DOSH personnel come to audit the yard, they are told that the High pressure pump only broke down that morning.
The silt content at the discharge must be not more than 50 mg per Liter of effluent. Dissolved oxygen must not exceed 7 mg/Litre. Biological oxygen demand must not exceed 20 mg/Litre.


Obstruction

There were also cases of the stems of gate valves installed overhead with a less than 6.5 feet distance from the ground or platform. These stems which were installed horizontally must be seven feet or higher because they would pose as hazards for people walking along the area to knock the head on the stems.
Gondolas
They must be designed by professional engineer and licence from the authorities must be obtained before they are to be used. The safety hardness must be fastened to the lifeline and not to the handrails.



Hot-work Permit

Workers working in areas where they could be combustible gas leakage, must have the areas gas tested first before they are allowed to do hot work there. The hot work permits must be re-validated if the worksite has been abandoned for four hours.
Only qualified personnel should be allowed to certify an area is gas free. The instruments used must be certified by a qualified agency.

It is common for companies wanting to save time and money to say that the areas were tested gas free the previous day, and therefore they must be safe today. This sort of assumption can cost lives, injuries or property loss, and in one plant, a fire was actually started.

A fire watcher with proper fire-extinguishers must be onsite until the hot work has been completed.


Permit to Work

All the jobs in the plant and the yard must be properly coordinated. Only one coordinator must be allowed to approve permit to work system daily and an area where the approved job is not in progress for more that 4 hours needs a new permit.
Testing of Safety valves

All pressure relief valves must be re-tested every two years and the pressure at which the valve will open, and the day the valve was pressure tested, must be clearly engraved on stainless steel plate and fastened on the body of the safety valve. It is no use putting on safety valve only to find later that the explosion occurred because the valve was of a very much higher rating and therefore it did not open when the pressure in the vessel went beyond the safe range.


Pressure Gauges

Ensure that your pressure gauges are serviced by qualified personnel regularly. People were killed when the pressure gauges on the pressurized vessels indicated “0 PSI” and they were opening the doors which provided access for workers and tools. Those pressurized doors would be blown off once the nuts which were holding them down were removed.

Safety Hardness


Workers working on high areas must be provided with safety hardness, and not just a safety belt. The safety hardness must be tested and certified by qualified personnel at least once a year. If a safety hardness is defective, do you still want to use it? If you don't, then discard it to prevent others from using it. During a fall, the safety belt can prevent the worker from dropping to the ground. It cannot prevent the worker from breaking his spinal cord. During job interview, recruits who were expected to work on high places must be told the truth. Some people cannot climb height and these were the people most likely to get hurt if they were told to work at high locations.


Lifting slings & tag lines

All lifting slings must be load tested and a safety certificate issued. The safe working load for the sling and the date it was tested must be engraved on stainless steel plate and attached to the sling. A qualified surveyor must inspect the slings (fiber or steel) once a year. Any sling, which is not safe, for use must be destroyed and discarded. Manila ropes must not be used for lifting. Riggers involved in lifting and shifting of heavy items must attend a basic course of safety on lifting. They must be taught the proper use of tag lines on each end of the load for complete control during maneuvering because it is human nature to move close to the load and use the hands to push or drag the load to the desired location.

In cases where the load is not within the length of your arms, the load would be left out of control. If it is a very heavy load, e.g. two tons or more and with pointed ends (e.g. I beams, Angle Irons etc), this load can cause a lot of harm like puncturing the oxygen and acetylene cylinders, knocking off the scaffolding near by or crushing into the workers in the surrounding areas. Lives have been lost because people believed by not putting on the tag lines, they saved a lot of time and money.

The tension on the wirerope of the crane increases as far as ten times if the load is allowed to swing from one end to the other end. Cranes with this problem had crushed down, the boom and the load, killing people around it or injuring them.



One engineer was killed with the pilot of the chopper he hired to install a structure on top of another structure and the lifting sling could not be released from onboard the chopper. Not many chopper pilots are trained or licensed to airlift construction equipment and assist the installation on sites.
Grounding for Welding machine


The most recent incident I came across was people using diesel powered welding sets not willing to provide grounding for the machine. It took only one copper rod, 0.5-inch dia, and 12 inches long and a piece of high-tension cable 1.5 meter long to ground the machine and make it safe. I was told those people were doing the jobs during the past many years and they never had a problem. I had to tell the employer it was mandatory to have the welding machine provided with adequate wiring for grounding.


The body can sense a current of 1 mille ampere. A current of 20 mA or so could prove fatal by contraction of the heart muscles.


Trenching


When workers have to dig trenches with machine, they must be provided with drawings showing the locations of where the underground cables are and that they must know the depth of the cables. When the excavator (Trench Hoe) has removed the top portion of the soil, the workers must manually shovel the remaining layers of soil by spades and hoes when the cable is 6 inches below the excavated area. There was one incident where the people excavating above the high-tension cable were not briefed about this and the Trench Hoe pulled up the high-tension cable causing a major black out.
The management concerned thought it would be faster using the Trench Hoe to dig until the cable was visible. That was a very expensive lesson.
Even with a map to guide the workers, it is still necessary to have a person qualified to use a cable detector to reconfirm the exact location and the direction of the existing cables.

Trench five feet deep or more must be shored. Planks and trench jacks must be used to support the braces from falling down.
Always remember that the earth will not always fall from the top or the sides of the trench. It can bulge from under your feet. Many people in some parts of the world died because the earth under their feet moved for some reason causing the shoring to fail.

Excavated materials must be placed at least 0.65 metre away from the trench wall.
Where the depth of the excavation is greater than the width, and the maximum depth is not more than 15 feet, ordinary shoring can be used.
For excavation greater than 20 feet, OSHA requires the protective system to be designed by a registered professional engineer.


High sound pressure level

The next incident I had to solve was people had to work in enclosed areas where the noise level was dB(A) 88 or above all the time. These workers had to work 12 hours per day, six days per week. Without using the earmuffs or earplugs, people would start to lose their hearing capability within a few weeks. When they found out it was always too late. All workers who have to work in high Sound Pressure Level area, dB(A) 85 and above, must be briefed on the hazards of noise exposure. I also came across workers in these areas not willing to put on the earmuffs provided, giving the excuse the earmuffs would make them sweat more profusely. They also cited that they worked for many weeks there and non-of them had hearing problem.
Noise level must be maintained below 65 dBA during the day time. The use of noise buffers such as hoarding must be encouraged. Noise level must not exceed 55 dBA during night time if the workers are sleeping near the construction yards.
If a worker must be exposed to a location where the noise level is 80 dBA or higher, for more than one hour, protective ear muffs must be worn.


Radioactive materials

Commercial radioactive sources are usually metallic in nature, for example Cobalt-60 which has an effective penetrating power of 225 mm of steel plate. This source must be encapsulated in protective covering, which may be a thin sheath of stainless steel or aluminum. By containing the radioactive material in a capsule of this type, it prevents the possibility of accidental mishandling. The encapsulated source must be housed in a lead line steel container and is to be left in isolated location with fence surrounding it for safety reason.

When the X-ray is in progress, a sufficiently large area must be roped off and warning signs posted to keep all personnel outside the danger area.
The currently accepted dose for classified workers is 1 mSv (0.1 rad) for a five-day working week and the maximum dosage for a year is 50 mSv (5 rad).


Scaffolding

Scaffolders must be trained on site. Scaffolding timber boards must not be painted because the paint would cover up the defective portion and can endanger workers' lives. Toe boards and handrails must be provided.

According to ANSI A10.8, the light duty scaffold is designed for 25 lbs per square foot. Equipment and material storage on the scaffolds are not allowed.
The Medium duty scaffolds are designed for 50 lbs per square foot. Light materials like bricklayers' and plasters' works are allowed to be left on board.
The Heavy Duty scaffolds are designed for 75 lbs per square foot. Masonry items or materials are allowed to be stored on these scaffolds.


Working Over time

All workers must be given a period of continuous rest of 8 hours per day. This is mandatory as most of the industrial accidents are caused by workers who were over exhausted.


Safety Hat

An average safety hat is only effective for three years because of ultra violet degration or other factors. It must be able to withstand an impact of 5 Kg object from a height of 10 meters, dropping vertically downward. There are products in the market which do not conform to this standard.
If you need different hardhat colours to identify your workers, talk to the manufacturers or their representatives. It is very dangerous to paint those hardhats with the colours you wish. The industrial paints will certainly weaken the strength of the hardhats.


Face shield

There were also incidents where I had to tell workers to put on the face shields when they were grinding with pneumatic or electrical tools. In many cases, the face shields were available at the grinding locations. But there were few cases which the face shields were not available at all.


Safety Glasses

Most of the safety glasses found on the market are only good enough to prevent dust or foreign bodies coming toward your eyes from your front and right or left sides. They are not constructed to prevent objects coming vertically from above your head or below your head.

Go and shop for a pair that is good for you. If I tell you the brand, the other makers would be very much offended.
In dark places, dark safety glasses would not be suitable. Employees working at night, or at dark places must not be using dark safety glasses.


Safety goggles

I had also come across many cases which the oxy-acetylene cutter refused to use the safety goggles provided. In many cases, contractors also failed to provide the goggles.

Handling of Oxygen & acetylene bottles


At many construction yards, I came across workers dropping the oxygen and acetylene cylinders to the cement floor from the lorries. They could not believe this act could damage the cylinders. The screw caps for the cylinders were also never used. The excuse was that even the suppliers did not provide the caps. The caps are needed for safety reason. For example, the cylinders are left in the standing position, there could be oils or grease dropping onto the screw heads at the top of the cylinders causing explosion.

Workers have been killed because the valves on the cylinders shot off suddenly. The wounds were more horrible than those of the gun shots.
Cylinders must not be placed less than five meters away from welding sets, compressors, and generators etc.


Respirators:

In dusty areas or areas with fumes, respirators must be worn.
Fine asbestos dust is produced during the manufacture of asbestos products, or while these products are being used in the construction yards.
People working with asbestos must wear respirators. Asbestos dust must be washed with water and never be blown with compressed air. The surgical masks used by medical doctors are to prevent the substances from the doctor’s nostril dropping on to the patient. They cannot prevent the asbestos dust, which can be less than 1 micron long, from going into the nostrils. The average diameter of the human hair is 50 microns. You need electrostatic respirators to capture particles which are less than a micron in diameter. Most of the respirators on the market are not able to do this. Find out from your safety officer.


The US employers made this mistake before and many of them are still paying compensation today, (2004). In the U.S., a privately funded, government-run USD 140 billion trust had been created to pay work-related asbestos claims and it is estimated that this amount of money will not be able to pay all the valid claims. Are there no work-related asbestos victims in Asia?


Japan was the only Asian country so far that came out openly with a documented record of the deadly carcinogen which caused mesothelioma, a cancer caused by carcinogen.


Please visit http://www.abcmesothelioma.com/ for more info.
During crushing of granite rocks, sand-blasting, removal of sand sticking to metal castings etc., fine particles of silica are produced.


The proper use of respirators with very fine filters, will prevent the silica and asbestos dust from going into the lungs, and the wood dust into the nostrils. The silica can cause fibrosis of the lungs and the asbestos dust can cause lung cancer, while the wood dust can cause nose cancer.
When woods are swan, it is advisable to require the carpenters and those exposed to this hazard to put on the correct respirators.


Smoke Extractor

Smoke extractor must remove all the smoke in the room within 60 seconds
because a person in that room will die within five minutes. Make sure it is in running condition and confirm it once every two weeks.

Cigarette Smoke

Ideally, cigarette smoke should be prohibited from all work sites. In a non-smoking environment, the workers will be healthier and productivity will be higher.
Second hand smoke contains over 50 cancer-causing chemicals. Good ventilation systems will not get rid of second hand smoke. Second hand smoke also cause diseases and pre-mature death in children. Even the non-smoking adults will not be spared. The risk of developing cancer and heart diseases is between 25 and 30 %. Children living with smokers have a higher risk of asthma, ear problem, respiratory problems and sudden infant death syndrome.



Ventilation System

The ventilation system should actuate an alarm when there is a breakdown in the pump room or engine room. A physical check procedure must be carried out immediately.
Safety Procedure check list
All equipment must be provided with a safety check list and the list must be checked accordingly by a qualified person. His name and the checked date must appear on the list.


Live Electrical Cables

The cables must be tagged clearly. If they are laid underground, the exact locations and the depths must be clearly indicated above the ground. The startup buttons of equipment must be locked to prevent unauthorized use of those equipment.
Emergency Shut down

For some plants, especially on oil and gas fields, emergency shut down knobs are provided. If there is an emergency, example, a fire and your life is in danger, just push or pull the shut-down knob to prevent more oil or gas from escaping.
Hundreds of people were burn to death just because a few workers were afraid to shut down the platform when a certain location of the platform was already burning. Ask yourself, can the big brother who is authorized to shut down the platform come out to do it? What happens if he is already dead? Don't you want to stay alive?


Entry to Confined space:

All workers who must work in confined space must be trained. Before any one is allowed to enter the confined space, the place must be certified free of combustible and toxic gases. If the confined space is not properly flushed with compressed air, the people who want to enter the area must be equipped with breathing apparatus and each cylinder must be able to supply enough air for the person to go in and come out safely. The normal air requirement for an average person is 10 cubic feet per minute.

If workers must work in the confined space, the space must be flushed with compressed air for at least 4 hours continuously and be certified safe by a qualified gas tester. For example, if a fractional column has a base of 10 meters in dia and a height of 90 meters. We shall need a compressor that can produce one cubic meter of air per second at 150 psi to flush the column continuously for 4 hours. This inlet air supply must be plugged at the lowest point at the base of the column with a one-inch connection to the compressor outlet. The outlet for the air to escape must be at the highest point of the column.

Do not enter without breathing apparatus if the oxygen level is 19.5% or less by volume. However, if the level is 23.5% or more by volume, it is also not safe to enter because at this level, it is explosive.

Combustible organic compounds inside a tank can be as high as 30%. A combustible gas meter analyzer must be used to confirm the volume of the combustible gas.

Many years ago, a technician was inspecting a vessel for petrol storage. He was carrying a lighted electric bulb. When the lighted bulb was accidentally broken in that vessel, he died on the spot because of the violent explosion.

The most recent work-related death because of negligence was documented in 2005 when an engineer went inside a compartment on board a ship for inspection. He died in that compartment. The hatches for ventilation were all closed. The next time you are asked to enter a confined space, ask yourself the following questions:

Who are the people qualified to approve permit for vessels and confined space entry?

Are the gas testers qualified?

Are the instruments used for the testing in good condition?


Spray painting:


No smoking signs must be displayed at all the areas where people can come near. The working area must be barricaded. The painters must be provided with respirators. No smoking should be allowed around the painting areas. In the past, explosions had occurred causing lives and properties. Should we allow history to repeat?
For workers with exposure to peeling lead-based paints, the respirators must be of the standard which can stop the lead dust from going into the human noses.


Explosive Metal Powders

Because of their high surface to area volume ratio, metal powders are explosive, particularly aluminum, magnesium, titanium, zirconium and thorium.
When handling explosive metal powders, note the following:
Grounding the equipment,
Preventing sparks,
Avoiding friction,
Avoiding dust clouds,
Avoiding open flames,
Avoiding chemical reactions



Forklifts:

All forklift operators must be properly trained. Especially during the reverse, some operators never see what was behind. They assumed it was empty. This sort of assumption resulted in one death in 1974 when a worker was standing against a wall and an operator reversed toward him crushing him to death on the spot.
Another case happened when the operator did not see behind and ran his fork on a pavement, breaking the vertical portion of the fork beyond repair.


Compressed air:

Workers must not use compressed air to clean the bodies. Compressed air must never be used to test for leaks in pipes and vessels. Incidents had happened in the past and people were killed or badly injured by compressed air.


Petrol:

Workers must not use petrol to clean the hands and paint brushes. Petrol must never be left unprotected. Check with your local authorities regarding the maximum quantity or volume you may be allowed to stock in your plant or workshop, and also the necessary precautions you have to ensure, like the containment, fences etc.


Marine:

Life jackets must be worn when workers have to work at places above deep water and the chances to fall into the water are high. There must be a life-jacket for everybody when your workers have to cross a mass of water and they must be taught the correct method to put on the life-jacket. The life-jackets must be genuine products and each jacket must be able to keep a person afloat for at least 24 hours.


Welding Shop:

In a welding shop, each welder's work area must be surrounded by blinds to prevent the light of the welding arcs from reaching the people moving around these areas. The welding arcs can cause permanent blindness if a person is exposed to them sufficiently long enough.

For light duty welding, normally 200 Amps or lower, the following protective items are considered adequate: woolen or cotton clothing, cloth gloves, and welding helmets.

For Heavy Duty welding, the following items are needed: leather gauntlet gloves, leather jacket, leather apron, spats, safety shoes, and welding helmets with filter glasses.

Welding fumes can cause shortness of breath and other diseases. Welders who work in confined space conditions are the ones who will suffer this disease.
Effluent

In most countries, the effluent that is drained into public places, drains, rivers, seas etc must not contain more than 15 ppm of oil. It is very expensive to stick to this target. But the resulting fines would definitely be more expensive.
(Shouldn’t the governments reward people who come forward to report abused cases?)


Potable water

A pH lower than 7 indicates the water is acidic. If your potable water comes from doubtful sources, send the samples for lab analysis every week.
Toxic Gases

The following 13 gases are dangerous to handle unless you are trained to do so.
If in doubt, seek professional guidance.
Ammonia
Chlorine
Fluorine
Bromine
Hydrogen chloride
Hydrogen cyanide
Hydrogen sulphide
Hydrogen fluoride
Carbon monoxide
Sulphur dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Nitric oxide
Combustible Gases

The following (not exhaustive list) 11 gases are combustible. How do you make sure your worksites will not be blown up by one of them? Do you know that the gas testing must be done at regular interval?
Methane
Carbon disulphide
Ethylene oxide
Benzene
Acetone
Acetylene
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Propane
Methanol
Glycol

Methyl Bromide

This substance is very effective fumigant, readily penetrating soil and timber. It is highly toxic. Symptoms of poisoning are: resemble drunkenness, may be delayed for several hours. A victim may take years to recover. The gas is first smelled when in a concentration of 10000 parts per million and by then it is too late, poisoning having occurred at 35 ppm.
An area should not be fumigated with methyl bromide until it has been searched and evacuated.


Metal Chips

Metal chips from milling or drilling machines are razor-sharp and should never be removed with your hands or compressed air. The flying chips may injure you or those nearby. One technician had his eye removed because metal chip was found in his eye and it was too late to save that eye. Would you like this to happen to you?
The cutting oils used for machining can create a highly flammable oil mist if compressed air is applied to them. This mist can be ignited by an open flame causing an explosion.

It is therefore best to remove the accumulated chips by a paintbrush.

Sanitation

In the developing countries, this is the most neglected topic. Workers are expected to excrete and urinate in the wood. For hygienic and safety reasons, when there are less than 50 male workers in the yard, the following are needed:
Water closet (2) Urinal (3) Wash basin (3)

The number of water closets, urinals, and wash basins must be increased proportionately as the number of workers increases. There must be 24 hour supply of water in the toilets and the toilet facilities must be cleaned daily.


Litter

Litter must be removed from the yard once in the morning and once in the evening before the workers leave the yard. The litter must be dumped at designated dumping ground.


Pest control

Mosquitoes and houseflies must be fogged at least once every month. Stagnant pools of water must be removed immediately.

Cats and dogs must not be allowed to run around in your worksites, or to breed there. One male and one female flea can multiply to 1000000 fleas within 100 days. Your workers' health may be affected and thus efficiency will definitely go down.

Majority of the contractors still think industrial safety is a burden and a waste of time and money. They must be educated to understand that industrial safety will actually increase their productivity and lower production cost.
Grit-Blasting

During grit-blasting, some portions of the steels actually turn into powder. This powder can travel up to 100 metres or farther depending on the speed and direction of the wind. It is no use putting up canvas 8 feet high in the form of a fence, giving the workers that false impression of safety. It is best done at night, when majority of the workers are off-duty, if a confined space is too expensive to erect. When the metal powders go into the lungs, there is no way to get them out. Though the results will only be noted many years later, the workers and the victims can still sue the employers if the evidences are available and the lawyers who are well-versed in this field are willing to take up the cases.

As the average education of the workers grows higher, the day will come when many of these workers will be able to sue the employers for damages like noise-induced hearing loss, and occupational loss of eyesight, lung cancer, welders’ diseases etc. The subsequent compensation claims could be very high. Moreover, this course will minimize or avoid the environmental liabilities many of which may carry civil or criminal penalties in future as the governments of the countries you are working in become more and more transparent every day.


When your engineers attend this course, they will not die inside a rotating drum, their oxygen cylinder will not explode, and they will not die inside a chopper which was dragged down by the wire ropes, or inside a tunnel because they were rushing around telling the workers to abandon the worksite.


Don’t you want to know the over 24 types of gas that can kill or harm your employees and how to handle them?
(End)

First Love


The rain was pouring down and the whole atmosphere was dim. Lights were switched on in one of the hostel sitting rooms. The college term had just begun. The sitting rooms of this College of Engineering were large and venerable. Papers, magazines and booklets were scattered here and there. It was the usual evening scene.


David sat in an armchair and was browsing through a local paper. There were three vacant chairs at this round table. Outside the sitting rooms, the water with ripples was flowing across the road to the plunging valley. This was only his first week at college. Though the weather was cold and wet, it was not as cold as to make people feel uncomfortable. He heard the footsteps of a student coming down stairs. A young lady with dazzling beauty, aged 20, was descending. She looked round the three sitting rooms, two of them were empty. She approached the one that was the closest.

"Hello. Good afternoon," she greeted.
" Good afternoon, " David looked up and nodded his head.
" It's a lovely place, isn't it?"
" Yes, that was why I came down to read some papers. Don't you think we should be grateful to those who made all these facilities available to us?
" I don't know who actually should get the credit. But if Senior Minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew did not go to Cambridge University, do you think Singapore would have been where it is now? Would you and I have the chance to obtain "A" Level passes and to attend college?


Rita noticed him the first day the college term began and was waiting for the chance to know him better. What did she see in him? David must also admit he was very much fascinated by her beauty. She blossomed fully physically. He could not find fault with any part of her. Long and vivid hair matched her oval face. She had double eyelids and her perfectly white teeth were neatly arranged.


" How many brothers and sisters have you?" he asked.
" No brother but two sisters," she replied.
"I suppose you won't mind recommending me one of them? I still haven't got a girl friend."
" I'm sorry they're both attached."
" I know you too late then?"


Rita blushed and she wanted to say "No" but was too shy to do it. They went to have the dinner together and came back to the same place when the dinner was over.
Time passed quickly. They both did not want to leave but it was getting late at night. Though Rita was interested in him physically, David might not meet her expectations. On the other hand David had the burning desire to run up to her room and take her into his arms.


The next morning they went to have the breakfast together. In the evening they strolled past the lecture block, the lectures' quarters and down into the field. There were the trees which gave one the shade needed during the daytime when the sun was shining fiercely. There were the turns and sharp bends of the landscape which kept couples out of sight from thee hostels which were situated side by side. The yellowish and misty full moon enriched the atmosphere. They lay on the grassy slope which ensured that the field could be turned into a stadium because there were slopes all around.


David put his arms round her and kissed her on the lips and asked whether she enjoyed it.
"Yes," she answered shyly, wondering if she should tell the truth.
" Was it your first time?" she wanted to know.
" Yes. What about you?"
" I don't know."
" I guess you have many boyfriends?"
" Yes. They were all madly in love with me but I wasn't interested in any of them. Just a year ago I was jilted. That was why I took revenge on all the boys I could get hold of."
" Are you going to make me one of them?"
" I won't because I love you."
" Why do you love me?"
" They say love is blind. But maybe partly because you're handsome, clever, honest, serious and persistent."
" Are those all?"
" And I presume you're rich."
" What would you do if I'm not?"
" I would still love you."
" That's it Rita, you're my soul mate. I'm glad you don't pay much attention to money."
" Please don't blame those girls who do. How could one marry into poverty? Love really isn't so great as it appears in novels. In novels, people live without going to toilets, without foods, and whenever they need assistance God sends it from Heaven. First thing comes first. Can you love if you have nothing in your tummy?"
"Of course not."
" Oh David. You're fabulous. You're practical and intelligent. Just for argument sake- can we fall in love if we're very poor?"
" Of course we can," David who was always confident reassured her.


They returned to the hostels. As usual there was nobody around. David kissed her under the staircase, holding her so tightly that he almost sucked the life out of her.


This ardent and passionate young lady ran upstairs, wiping her beautiful mouth dry on the way. She lay on the bed and wondered if David was really rich. After all can't a poor guy buy expensive clothes to bluff girls? She wondered what she could do if he turned out to be a poor devil. Thousands of questions struck her before she fell asleep. The night was calm but rather hot. The rhythmic chirping sound of the male cicadas seemed to grow louder and louder.


Days passed and weeks were gone. Both of them went on as usual. David noticed her feeling for him had slowly gone cold. He consoled himself by thinking that was only the general behaviour of girls in love. The painful day had turned into months. Eventually, Rita refused to go out with him. The happier days when she would stand patiently on the shore at Sungei Tampines mouth watching David swimming over to Pulau Ubin and then swimming back towards her again were forgotten. Those happy days were of no significance anymore.


"What do you mean by avoiding me?" David asked her one day when they accidentally met at the college bus-stop.
Rita did not answer. When the bus came she stepped in. David followed her, still pressing her with the question.


"Will you please leave me? I don't want to see you. That's all. There are thousands of girls using the MRT every day. Why don't you just stop one of them and talk to her. I'm sure you stand a chance."


At that moment, David felt that he could overturn the bus and that all the volcanoes on earth were erupting. He could have assaulted her in the bus but he still loved her.


"You bastard. Why do you want to leave me?" David grasped her by the shoulders and shook her.


She turned pale and sat still as if nothing had happened. The bus-driver cranked his neck around asking them not to quarrel. When the bus reached the City Hall she went her way. David caught another bus and returned to college. He was angry and nervous and did not take his dinner when he dozed off early that night. The next morning he was told that while Rita was in the lift on the 38th floor of a local hotel the previous night, the wire rope of the lift snapped sending the lift crushing down, killing or critically injuring all the people in the car. The safety device which would allow the lift to be lowered slowly to the ground was not installed. The maintenance record indicated that it was installed and was tested as perfect only a week ago by the hotel's maintenance crew. The record also indicated the wire ropes were load tested only three months ago.


David rushed to see her at the hospital. She lay there on the bed, unable to move or talk. A few drops of tear rolled out of her eyes. David cried but the lady closed her eyes and was gone forever.


As David was walking out of the female orthopedics ward Roger was coming in. David waited at the corridor for him to return.


" You'll have to find another Chinese girl or you can bring back her corpse and sleep with her every night," David grinned at the competitor.

" If you didn't put pressure on her these days, she wouldn't have been dead. You fucking bastard," Roger retorted.
Roger walked into the crowd and was out of sight. He did not attend the cremation at the Bright Hill crematorium. David never met him for the rest of his life. The man who always had sex with her in the hotel room too failed to possess her even though he managed to separate Rita and David by leaking out the fact that David's father was only a toilet cleaner at the MRT. In realty there is nothing that belongs to us. Nothing remains unchanged.


The red jaguar Roger used to drive was borrowed from his uncle in Kuala Lumpur. He always met Rita at the hotel because he was a painter there and therefore had access to all the rooms which were to be repainted. His so-called MBA from Wharton and Ph D in mechanical engineering, from India were all faked. The company which appeared on his business cards never existed. It was surprising he had successfully deceived Rita for many months. When the postmortem was carried out it was confirmed that Rita was on ecstasy pills on that fatal night and that she was three month pregnant. If Roger could use the hotel room until the next morning, Rita would have been alive and the unburned child would have the chance to see its father. Roger had to escape to Malaysia because he was wanted by the Singapore Police for his assistance in investigating how Rita was able to obtain the banned drugs, which carried a death penalty for the traffickers.


The illegal ecstasy pills Roger was selling could be hidden above the ceilings of the rooms or in the air conditioning ducts. If the narcotic officers happened to find them, those drugs could be considered as left by the tourists who either forgot to collect them or did not want to collect them because the timing was wrong. Video recording of couples making love during the lunch hours were very common. Roger even successfully extorted some money from one lady who was a married woman and was a secretary to the company president whom she had offered her body. The movements of the couple from the minute they walked into the room until the moment they walked out of the room were clearly recorded. Just like many other married women, she paid the 5000 Singapore dollars requested by Roger for the tape which she immediately destroyed. So the next time you walk into any hotel room for sex, make sure you close all the curtains and switch off all the lights.


The only reason why Roger did not extort the president was that this man not only would not pay the extortion money to Roger, he would hire a killer to finish off Roger.

END

(1911 words)

A Way of Life

Buntal, a District Officer from Punggol, was walking from his house to the office early in the morning. His car was used by his wife who would be playing golf. Buntal thought of his past- how he managed to climb from the position of an office clerk to his present situation. Many years ago, he had a fight with one of his classmates, Chua, in the school, and was sacked by the principal. His greatest enemy was then a welfare officer in the Singapore Civil Service.


“Good morning Buntal, I have been transferred back to Singapore. Please allocate me a quarter," Chua requested.

“Sure, " Buntal answered with an icy stare.

The following day Chua came to sweep his quarter, which white ants and rots had taken off the front and the back doors. The windows and the ceilings were in shabby condition. Chua returned to request for a better quarter.


“Get out of my office or I'll throw you out," Buntal whose lips, hands, and legs were trembling, after a heated row yelled.


“Throw now," Chua gazed at Buntal.

Buntal jumped up, pulling Chua by the collar and swung Chua out off the office. Because of this incident, Chua lost his job.

The public had begun to notice how Buntal courted the favours of the Governor. Rumours leaked out that one cold rainy afternoon the guard who looked after the golf course happened to have a peep when the clumsy governor was making love to this longhaired young lady in the clubhouse when she squealed and groaned with ecstasy. No wonder the governor was often playing golf during the office hours.

" I must climb higher, " Buntal told himself. " That bastard was saying that I became a convert to please the governor. Isn't it an open secret that all the converts were the ones holding the higher positions?"


One night after a party the governor requested to sleep in Buntal's house because of dizziness. The guest room was beautifully decorated, but one thing was missing, a woman. All the women had gone off with the other men. Buntal called a lady who was on a part time callout basis. Unfortunately, this lady's husband just came back from the timber camp and would not be gone until one month later. The ship, Kimanis berthed at 11 pm, and the woman’s husband reached home before 12 a.m. He came home for one month holiday with pay, after completing 12 months work in a jungle in Sabah. Sometimes, nature is against us. How does Buntal solve this problem? All the one-night stands on his list are occupied.


The poor bachelor could not go to sleep. He rolled left and right on the bed, his eyes were wide open. At last he walked into Buntal's bedroom and tapped gently on the young lady's face. She woke up. Not a word was spoken. She followed him to his room.


Both of them groaned and mourned with delight. Helen could not care if Buntal would wake up and find her in the room with the governor. Why should she? Had Buntal not spent most of his time with the other girls?


The squeaking sound woke Buntal up. He thought Helen was in the toilet. The way the servant girl peeped at the copulating couple behind the flower bush this evening assured him she would not refuse him this time. He hurried into her room and kissed her on the lips.


“I thought it was a devil," the girl woke up and whispered.

“Devil or man, I can give o you what you want."

Buntal climbed on the girl and began kissing her all over the body after he took off all her clothes.


“I know you really need it now. I saw you peeping at the Bangalashi making love to Ah Yun, who lived at the Block 166."


“Yes I want it badly. But please tell me. The guy from Bangladesh is only 20 years old. Why was he making love to Ah Yun, who is 65 years old?"


“You have to ask the guy if you happen to see him tomorrow. My guess is this guy was only a sweeper. He cannot afford to find more attractive girls. Have your ever offered your body to these laborers from Bangladesh? Are they better at sex? "

“One month ago, Ah Yun wanted to sell to me one piece of stone wrapped in black cloth, for1000 U.S. dollars. She said that lust spell was from India and a woman who possesses it just has to rub on the body of the man she want to have sex with and the man would be in love with her forever.”


“We’re Christians. Do you believe all these rubbish? If black magic can work effectively, Bush would have died long ago!”

“Ah Yun entertains about ten men per day. She can’t take the men to her flat because the owner of the flat doesn’t allow her to do so. Yesterday she took me to see a black magician who ran an office in Chinatown. The office was air-conditioned but was dark and very smelly. You cannot recognize a person from ten feet away. All the visitors were old women.”

“Do you believe all these swindlers?”

“You were ADO before. Why didn’t you tell the police to arrest them? They must have given you a lot of money?”

Buntal slept soundly with the girl that night. In the other room his wife was still on the governor. Was this her favourite position? Who are the other lucky guys in her life?

Years passed quickly. Buntal was then the managing director of a manufacturing company at Tuas. He secretly stirred up the people of Singapore trying to instill some patriotism into them so that they would want to fight for independence, hopping that he could be the first president. A secret society was organized with Ahmad Yong, a man of no political principles, as the leader. Since Chua was aware of Buntal and Yong's plot, these two cunning guys tried to put Chua on their side so that Chua would be willing to keep the secret at whatever cost. Chua decided not to collaborate with them because he heard another group of people was also starting to come out with something for the independence of the country. The later group consisted of more qualified people. But the decisive factor was that Buntal and Yong did not have any leadership at all.


Buntal and Yong believed if Chua was not killed, Chua would definitely leak the secret to the British government which would definitely result in great troubles. Yong organized a dinner party on board Sri Gaya one night. Being a friend it was not difficult for Yong to persuade Chua to drink until he was drunk. Chua was getting drowsy by 11 o'clock that night. He went out to sit at the rear of the boat, his back facing the sea. Yong staggered out of the room.


“Aye, brother, another glass, " he filled Chua's glass with more wine.

As the wine was rising to the brim, Yong cut Chua with open hand on the throat where the Adam's apple was and thrust him into the sea with the right foot.
Many years passed, not many people even knew Chua was on board the ship that night, except Sara. But what could a widow do? The murderers were the friends of the governor. This Angmo (white man ) was also treated like a Deva by almost all the Singaporeans. She would only endanger her own life. She was then three-month pregnant.


The political party Buntal wanted to organize could not materialize, not because fate was against him, but it was his own inferiority complex that caused him to back out. Cowards always imagined a lot of obstacles when they wanted to plan for anything. He was not willing to compete with another group of young graduates whom he knew commanded better respect and trust from the public. How could Buntal win support if his strategy was not compelling and believable? Instead of joining the few young graduates, he went around running down the credibility of those graduates saying that these graduates eat with knife, fork and spoon and that the chop sticks were unknown to them and for that reason the Chinese culture would be finished off if these graduates were elected. Buntal and Yong therefore moved from one location to another in Singapore telling people that it was better for the country to remain a British colony because the potential political leaders could not even speak Mandarin. According to Buntal and Yong's standard, a person cannot be classified as Chinese if that person cannot read and write in Chinese.


Sara's son, David was only seven years old when she narrated the painful story to him.

“Your father was a most smart guy. Buntal was jealous of him. In the department where Buntal worked, only the inefficient and the bootlickers were promoted. "
“Why didn't you report to the police that Dad was missing?" the innocent son wanted to know.


“At that time Singapore was a very unsafe place. A gangster could simply pull out a gun from his pocket and shoot at anybody. No one would dare to report the matter to the police. If the police requested for help to nail down the killer, no one would come forward to assist. "

When David grew up, Karate was his favourite sport. Every weekend, after collecting dead wood in the forest, he would chop a few pieces of wood bare handed.
Buntal was about to retire from the private sector when David found him at Sembawang. First of all David got himself a job in that company called Global Construction. It was also in that company he met Selini and fell in love with her. Eventually, David was shocked to find out that he was in love with a murderer's daughter.


One night, David, Selini and Buntal went camping at Pulau Ubin. Helen did not go because she wanted the chance to be with the governor. Many of the marriageable young ladies on this island were wondering what was it that glued the governor to Helen. The real reason was the governor did not have any special liking for her except the fact that she was a married woman and should she become pregnant, the pregnancy would not be a problem. Buntal and David went out fishing in a speedboat leaving Selini to amuse herself in the tent.


" Mr. Buntal, do you know the murder of Chua had been found out?"
" Who found out?"
" I did."
" Who are you?"
" His son."
" You father left a poor seed behind?"


Buntal turned pale, got very nervous and was unable to speak properly. His immediate reaction was to get rid of the son of the bitch who was then sitting in front of him.
" Don't panic," David comforted him.

" What do you want?"
" To marry Selini."


Buntal swung an oar over David's head. David caught the oar and kicked him on the left armpit. Buntal dropped noisily into the water.


" Father. I have taken the revenge. Please forgive me; I want to marry his daughter," David came down on his knees and uttered.

At midnight David returned to Pulau Ubin to tell Selini that her father was taken by sharks, that though he fought hard to try to beat off the sharks it was impossible for him as there were more than ten of them in the water.


“Oh, father!“the lady yelled pitifully and was on her knees. David dragged her up and put his arms round her back, pressing her hard toward him, and promised that he would take care of her forever.


End

www.agloco.com/r/BBCN4116

The Working Ghosts

The French bastards had their rig built
in the U.S.
They paid USD over 400 millions
They never said it was expensive
Now they build it
in Asia for only USD 340 millions
And they complain every day that
it is cheaper to have the rig built
in the U.S.A.
The above was the comment from the
Asian local construction manager.

***

The truth was
there were working ghosts
on board the rig.
Each worker on board has a brass left on the entrance
to the rig
But there were more brasses than workers !
The poor French paid for the workers who did not
turn up to work!

***
For some reason,
the client kept quiet for some time
A day came when the client could not
tolerate it any more
Each day two officers were stationed
at the entrance and exit
The contractors were paid for only
the number of workers who came in to work

***
This hurt the swindler intensely
He could not stand it any more
He blamed the China-men
For stealing the expensive valves,
the cheap piping gaskets, the bolts and nuts,
the paper cups, sugar, coffee
toilet papers, and so on.
Many China-men were removed from the rig
His own brothers were recruited
This time there was no more China-men
to be the scapegoats,
The company engineers had to work
for the projects which had been paid
to the main contractor,
The main con saved millions of dollars
Those engineers who refused
would be terminated
because he had a big brother in
the HR
The truth was revealed
The big brother had to leave
the manager too had to leave

***
So my friends
Beware, your enemies
may come from the most unexpected corner
Among your own brothers!

***
The same trick was done somewhere else
This time a few workers were given
Many cards to scan
They scanned on-behalf
of those who were working in other companies
Company A paid for these working Ghosts
The taking from these Ghosts would be shared
Among the managers, superintendents etc

***
Some employers thought they were smart
They placed machines that scanned the
little fingers
of the workers when they came in to work
and when they knock off for the day
Not knowing that Mr. A can come in
to scan the finger in the morning
goes to work for another company
on temporary basis
and return to scan his
little finger again
at 10.00 pm !

***



You may move to
the next company and continue your
fantastic tricks
How many times can you move ?
How long can you cheat ?
Isn’t honesty still
the best policy ?

***
Envy and rancor are destroying you every day
Coupled with greed,
the money you cheat
won’t be enough to buy the medicines
you shall need !

( END )

Copyright © 2006 Poh Tiong Ho

Sakyamuni Buddha



He lived from 566 to 486 BC. His teachings were passed down orally and they were only committed to writing in Sri Lanka around the middle of the first century BC. They consisted of three baskets or divisions called Pitaka. It has been estimated by scholars that if all the main points of the three baskets were listed in book form, that set of books would be equal to 360 copies of our average encyclopedia today.




The Pitaka consists of 1) the discourses or sermons of the Buddha, 2) the Monastic rules, and 3) the Abhidhamma.

The four sacred Buddhist places are : Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinara. Lubini is now in Nepal, was the birthplace of Sakyamuni Buddha. Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinara are in India. Bodh Gaya was the place where Sakyamuni was enlightened, after He moved from place to place in India practicing meditation for seven years. Sarnath was the place where He carried out His first teaching, ( turning of the Dharma Wheel). Kusinara was the place of His final Nirvana. The Buddha personally said that Buddhists who visit these four places would travel to higher states.




He was born as an average person. This was a good sign because it means you and I can also become a Buddha. You don't need to be the most intelligent ones in the nation like the top 0.000001% of the population to be able to understand the Dharma to become a Buddha. If He was very intelligent, He would have attained Nirvana earlier, because as a child (aged 7) He sat under a rose-apple tree watching His father carrying out the opening ceremony for the ploughing season, He crossed legs and went on meditation and was believed to have reached the different levels of the Jhanas. He could have continued and practised harder and successfully attain Buddhahood without spending the six years which He did later on.




His most learned disciple was Ananda (Buddha’s cousin) and Ananda was the last of the 1250 disciples to attain arahanthood. Ananda spent a lot of him time serving the Buddha and the guests of the Buddha. After the Great Decease of the Buddha, Ananda was less busy and he concentrated on meditation, attaining arahanthood while lying down. This attainment qualified him to participate in the first convocation of the Sangha with the aim of settling questions of doctrine and fixing the text of the scriptures.





Manjusri was the brightest of the 1250 disciples but he was not the first one to attain arahanthood.




The Buddha never claimed there was a royal road to Nirvana. However, He did teach that if a person should develop sincerely (The Noble Eightfold Path ) in the way He described, for seven days, he or she would attain full Enlightenment or the state of non-returner. For more info, please log on to http://satipatthana.org/satipatthana_sutta.html





The Buddha was not an eternalist, nor was He an annihilationist. According to Him, there were only events which arise because of previous conditions. But when asked if the person who was reborn was the same as the previous one who died, the Buddha said it was neither the same nor another person.




There are 31 planes of existence, and our human world is the fifth one. This is the only plane where, we the humans can see the things around us with our naked eyes. From level 6 to level 31 are all heavenly realms. From level 1 to 4 are the realms of the ghosts. The ghosts are only able to frighten the humans but are not able to physically hurt us. Otherwise, many people would have been dead, taking into consideration that the ghosts can see us but we cannot see them. The access to those 26 heavenly realms are within the reach of humans who are performing good deeds on this earth. No god hold the keys to those heavens and no god decides who goes there and who goes to hells.





Meditation will strengthen your faith on the religion. As you mediate, you breathe in cosmic energy and actually breathe out your defilements. This will help to weaken your past bad karma. You need to perform good karma to neutralize your bad karma. No one can undo your previous bad karma.




Loving-kindness (not carnal love) is Metta in Pali. This Metta possesses a mystic power. A person with a pure heart can radiate this beneficent force, which is capable of transforming wild beasts into tame ones, and murderers into saints. You don’t believe it? Why do you think the insects and beasts in the jungle can live peacefully with the monks, side by side?





Nimittas are the lights you see during meditation. These are mental signs. For most people, they are beautiful lights of various colours, e.g. white blue, purple, grey, yellow, orange etc. Sometimes they are bright and unstable, vibrating or flashing and changing shapes, like the clouds.





Some people also see eye, eyes or faces when their eyes are closed. These are very normal and we should not be attached to them for our own safety.





Please tell yourself that these are your own creations and are therefore not real. Sakyamuni Buddha said it very clearly that He would not be able to return to this earth, knowing that after His era many fakes would appear. The next Buddha will be born as a person when Buddhism no longer exists on this earth. He will practise on his own as a common being and eventually attain Buddhahood and will be able to enlighten others.





For more advance practisioner, within next few minutes after the nimitta, maybe few hours, days, months, or years, ( depending on how well you have practised so far) Jhana will happen by themselves later on.





According the the Buddha : for one who indulges in Jhana, four results are to be expected : Stream-Winner, Once-Returner, Non-Returner, or Arahant.




When Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood under the Bohdi tree, the Dharma He discovered was very hard to understand and He was thinking of leaving this Earth at that moment. Fortunately, Brahma Sahampati came down from heaven to invite the Buddha to expound the Dharma.


Quote:
"Those Enlightened ones of the past, those of the future, and those of the present age, who dispel the grief of many – all of them lived, will live, and are living respecting the noble Dharma. This is the characteristic of the Buddhas."
Unquote.




Perhaps during His previous life He made a wish that for His final birth as a man, He would be an ordinary being, grow up, get married and have children to show the public that they need not shave off the hair to attain nirvana, just like one couple did during the Buddha's time. This couple was both acrobats, earning a living around every part of India. One day they were fortunate enough to come to perform in front of the Buddha. They both were doing the somersaulting on top of two different bamboo poles, and they both attained Arahantship while on top of the poles. When they came down, the Buddha ordained them on the spot because when a person attains arahanship that person will leave this world automatically within seven days unless he or she becomes a monk or nun.



The Buddha also encouraged His followers to continue earning money. He said every body must put aside some of the profits for the rainy day (our CPF or Pension Funds today), and spend a portion of the remaining amount for family maintenance, and another portion for doing Dharma, and invest the remaining portion to keep the business or economy growing.




The Buddha was not a vegetarian. The Buddhists need not be vegetarians. There was one fisherman who invited the Buddha to a dinner of curry fish. The Buddha personally went to the fisherman's hut to accept the meal because He wanted that poor fisherman to have the chance to receive the merit. The Buddha did not tell the fisherman to change the profession even though the Buddhists were and still are advised to refrain from killing. The Buddha also clearly stated it was the citizens’ duties to take up arms to defend their country.





However, if a country attacks another country for selfish reason, and a citizen joins the armed forces, in the process he kills some of the so-called enemies, he creates the personal Karma of killing.




Fixed Karma is committed with speech, mind and body. The example would be a premeditated crime. Every thought, utterance, and deed is a seed that ripens over time. Every one has the potential at every moment to alter the course of the future Karma, by doing good deeds. The Buddha personally said “ If there is no way out, I will not be teaching you today”.




Collective Karma is created when a group of people, for example, go and set fires to destroy properties and living beings. The resulting Karma will be about the same for the future of this group. They will be burned to death in their future live and their properties will be destroyed by others.




Karma means the retribution or reward, in current or future life. Poverty and want are the results of miserly thoughts and actions in past lives. There are common Karma, fixed Karma and Collective Karma. It is the law of nature. Every good action will result in good Karma and every bad action will result in bad Karma. No one can escape it except the Buddhas and the Arahants, whose actions will create no further Karma.




The area covered by the Buddha when He was teaching was about 250 miles from East to West and about 150 miles from North to South. He was able to fly into the air unassisted but very few people ever saw him flying. He walked from place to place most of the time.





The Buddha died at a small town called Kusinara. It was mistakenly reported he died of food poisoning after eating a meal of pork donated by a lay follower. Some people who disliked the Buddha even said He was poisoned by the lay follower.




This was most unlikely because a Buddha or an Arahant could see what was in the food, just like they could see the viruses in the cup of water. There was no way a person could poison him. For whatever reason the food was contaminated, the Buddha knew it because after the meal He told His disciple to dig a hole in the ground and bury the remaining food because no humans or animals could consume that food without being harmed. The Buddha ate the meal because He wanted the lay follower to receive the merit. Eating animal flesh and be poisoned was common during the Buddha's time and it is still common even today just as what we see in the TV every day.





After eating that meal the Buddha became ill but he recovered later on. During that time He was 80 years old. Naturally, He died of failing health later on.




Before attaining parinirvana, the Buddha asked His disciples and all the lay followers if there was any question they wanted to raise. No one raised any question. This proved that He had taught us every thing we need to know to attain Buddhahood. When Ananda wanted to know if there should be a successor, the Buddha said the Dharma should be the guide after He was gone.




The Buddha's last words were:
" Decay is inherent in all things
be sure to strive with clarity of mind for Nirvana. "
(unquote)



After the Parinirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha, many non-Buddhist monks put on the robes, pretended to be Buddhist monks, and changed or deliberately mistranslated some of the Scriptures which were recorded in Sanskrit. The modern practitioner is advised to consult full-fledged Buddhist monks whenever he or she faces a certain doubt. One of the worst misconceptions is that “there is Nirvana but there is no one to attain or enter it”.





I don’t know what you call that thing that attains Nirvana. But does that matter ? When the frog returns to the pond to tell the tadpoles that he saw George Bush who was holding the most coveted position on this planet, lived in a beautiful building. Would the tadpoles believe him?




Nirvana doesn't mean emptiness because when the Buddha returned to His hometown, the throne was still open for him. He refused it and did not want His son to inherit it either. Would a person give up a coveted kingdom for emptiness (nothingness)?





Sakyamuni was the only religious teacher who had said that to protect other people’s religion was to protect your own religion. He never said that to attain Nirvana, a person must be a monk. During His time, there were many lay followers who attained Arahanthood, which was actually Nirvana. The bliss is the same except that the arahants are not able to enlighten others. The Buddha also never said there was a Royal Road to Nirvana, as claimed by some people today. The chanting of certain Sutra alone will not lead you to Nirvana. But if you chant that Sutra and at the same time practise the Noble Eightfold Path earnestly, you will attain Arahanthood. The Buddha clearly stated that regardless of religion and race, a person who had eradicated greed, hatred and delusion would attain Nirvana.





The following story will give you a better idea of how he Buddhists train themselves:




Once there was a woman who offered her guesthouse for a monk to practice meditation. She even provided a pretty maid to feed him and clean his abode daily. After many years, this woman wanted to see if the monk really progressed. She asked her maid to request a hug from the monk, in return for all the good work the maid had provided him in the past.




The monk refused the request telling the maid: “ Monks are not allowed to interact with women in this way”. As a result of this refusal, he was chased away from the abode. Was the monk making a correct decision?



Please continue reading the following paragraphs to find out:




For an average monk, he progresses by removing sensual desires, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubts. After some years, he may reach the 1st stage of Sainthood, (Sotapanna) which means he has to be reborn for seven times, to continue his training to attain Nirvana.




The 2nd stage of Sainthood is Sakadagami, which means he has to be reborn one more time in the human world to continue his training for perfection. Even at this Stage, lust and anger are only inhibited. They may resurface.




The 3rd Stage of Sainthood is Anagami, which means a Never-Returner. Anagami will not be born in the human world or the celestial realms. After death in the human world, he is reborn in he Pure Abodes, an environment reserved for Anagamis. There he attains arahanship, and lives till the end of his live and then attains Nirvana.




The final Stage of Sainthood, Arahant, is one who does not need any more training as he has lived the Holy Life, and has accomplished his object. He is not subject to rebirth because he does not accumulate fresh Karmic activities. He remains in this world to guide others until his natural life cycle is completed and then attains Nirvana.




The Buddha’s teachings can be summarized within six words: morality, concentration, wisdom, non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion. Every Buddhist is learning to develop morality, concentration and wisdom to remove greed, hatred and delusion.




The Buddha clearly stated that Vipassana meditation was the only way to escape the endless cycle of sufferings. He was not conducting meditation classes to make money. There was no reason for him to mention “only” if it was not true.




The two main types of meditation were and are still Samatha Meditation and Vipassana Meditation.




Samatha Meditation will not lead you to any wisdom or insight. When Samatha practitioners reach the state of jhana, they remain in this state for a long time and are not likely to learn anything. The Buddha’s two teachers Arara Dabos and Utaka Dabos were the best examples. When the Buddha was enlightened, He wanted to help these two former teachers but He found them passed away already and were re-borne as Arupa Bramins. These Bramins could not be reached or taught. By the time their life cycle ends, and they are borne as humans again, Buddhism would have ceased to exist.




With Vipassana Meditation, we practice on the four foundations of mindfulness. We concentrate on observation of how we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and feel. Right observation will bring forth right understanding of cause and effect.




The Buddha never said He wanted to save every living being and He never said He would return to this planet, but He did predict that another Buddha would be born on our present planet and that would be the 5th and the final Buddha for our planet Earth.



Copyright© 2005 Poh Tiong Ho